Wranglers owner Jon Frankel said Owens refused to play in two upcoming road games that are important to the team's playoff run and also cited the receiver's no-show for a scheduled appearance at a children's hospital. Ugh.

Owens wasn't required to play in all road games, but the team wanted him to participate in the key ones. T.O.'s contract gave him a 30 percent ownership stake in the team, but that has been nullified by his refusal to live up to the terms of his deal.

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"It's disappointing and unfortunate, but (he) could no longer be tolerated by the Wrangler organization," Frankel said.

T.O. nabbed 35 passes for 420 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games for the Wranglers. While those numbers are solid, Owens' inability to break big plays or produce at a 1,000-yard pace doesn't bode well for his NFL prospects.

Production has never been the problem for Owens. It's about seeing the big picture. T.O. still doesn't seem to understand that attention-grabbing antics, like going on Dr. Phil or being cut by an Indoor Football League team, will hurt his chances to ever make it back to the big time.

UPDATE: In a statement to NFL.com's Steve Wyche, Owens' publicist Diana Bianchini wrote, "It is unfortunate that the IFL Wranglers released Mr. Owens today in the manner that they did. Mr. Owens played all games according to his contractual agreement and was proud to be a part of the IFL and the Allen Wranglers. He was happy to be playing back in Texas and put a national spotlight of interest on the league like never before."

Bianchini added Owens' legal team was looking at parts of the Wranglers' statement to the media, and that the wide receiver "remains positive and is focused on a return to the NFL."